


Buddy System

by theweddingofthefoxes



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Altered canon, M/M, Mind Reading, finalizer shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 02:24:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11613960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theweddingofthefoxes/pseuds/theweddingofthefoxes
Summary: When General Hux's little brother begins his stint on the Finalizer, he's going to need a buddy to show him around.Ren just wishes that it didn't have to behim.





	Buddy System

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CalicoJinx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalicoJinx/gifts).



Hux never gets distracted, exactly. He's so purpose-driven that he can simply switch gears to whatever is the highest priority in his mind, devoting his entire mind and body, all of his resources, to the current number one project. It's just that....Ren doesn't always agree with his logic, whatever algorithm determines what that project ought to be. 

Such as the fact that Hux's brother was coming to the Finalizer. You'd think someone with so few family ties wouldn't be that concerned with the matter, especially since Techie was an adult, perfectly capable of handling whatever changes were in store for him. But this is Hux's Project now, and he has no time for anything else, certainly not Ren doing his best to distract him. 

"It's just important that he get on his feet as quickly as possible," Hux had told Ren, when Ren had dared to try and seduce him while he was in the middle of messaging his brother (no video, thankfully, just text). "The more I can do in advance, the better, don't you agree?"

Loathe though he was to admit it, Ren could sort of concede the point. Apparently Techie was brilliant but quite shy, and easily startled. The faster Hux could get his brother settled, the faster he could turn his attention back to Ren, which was fine with Ren, seeing as he hadn't gotten fucked in more than a week because of all of Hux's overwrought preparations on top of his normal jam-packed schedule. "Maybe he just needs a, you know, a buddy," Ren suggests, trying to be helpful. 

"A buddy?"

"Someone to show him around the space he's going to be occupying. The Finalizer is enormous, it might be overwhelming."

A smug smile settles on Hux's face, and Ren suddenly realizes he's made a terrible mistake. 

"I think you're completely right," Hux tells him, glancing down at the data pad to see if his brother had responded to his last message. "Why don't you take on the role?"

"Me? Do you think I have nothing to do all day tomorrow?"

"You could certainly go on a more _dangerous_ mission if you'd prefer that to the relatively low-danger task of escorting a single new crew member around the ship." Hux's tone goes low and dark as he adds, eyes flashing, "Some of us have official posts that they cannot miss a minute of. _Hence_ all the pre-planning, Ren."

Ren says nothing, but his expression is not exactly welcoming. Hux tries a new tactic.

"It would mean a lot to me, you know."

"And you know me to be the most kindhearted man in the galaxy, of course."

Hux sighs. "Don't think of it like kindness, think of it as something you can hold over my head the next time you want to get me into bed."

"Can I cash that in now?" Ren wants to know.

"I am _busy_ , Ren!" Hux snarls. "Cash it in another time, won't you?"

It's not the first time Ren wishes this whole idiotic business with Hux's brother was over, and it isn't going to be the last.

* * *

Nobody would assume that Ren was doing anything less than secret, important, and with the most powerful of people. It helps that the person at his heels is General Hux's brother -- without knowing anything about him, it's entirely possible to imagine he's simply quiet-dangerous rather than the shouty breed of dangerous that the elder one is. The rumors swirling around say that perhaps Techie is Force-sensitive, already a confidante of Kylo Ren, perhaps even one of those Knights unmasked. Ren is not going to do a single Force-damned thing to dispel those ideas, because the truth is far less glamorous. He's essentially babysitting.

"Your brother runs a very well-maintained ship," Ren tells him, early on in the tour. "He won't stand for any kind of foolishness, even if it's one of his personal favorites behind it."

"I understand," Techie says, always about a step and a half behind. His voice is just like Hux's, except it's soft and always sounds pleading, even when he's just stating a fact. In a weird way, Ren really likes it, just because he likes the idea of Hux being so submissive, sounding like that in the bedroom. But it won't do to already be thinking such things about his lover's brother, and he knows himself well enough to know that it would only take a day cycle for him to get utterly sick of it. 

"Good."

"He, you know, told me this already," Techie says. From anyone else, this might sound annoyed, like Ren is micromanaging him his very first day on the job. But from Techie, it's just a matter of fact. "He made it very clear what sort of behavior he expects. He's not going to. Um. Favor me or anything, I don't even work under him, except in the sense the ship is his..."

"Well, 'his' is a bit of an overstatement."

"Do you not like him very much?"

Ren's helmet is on, so Techie can't see the way he's cocked his eyebrow at that. It's an odd question, and unexpected. Worse is the fact that Ren doesn't have an answer ready, he's not even sure what the real answer is. On one hand, Hux drives him absolutely insane, the way he thinks he can force every detail in the universe to bend to his specifications, the way he dismisses the true power of the Force so easily. 

On the other hand, if this ship were to go down right now and Ren could only save a single person, he wouldn't even hesitate to choose Hux, and only Hux, to rescue. 

"The General and I have very different strengths. Combined, it makes the Finalizer, and the Order itself, move quite efficiently. We play well off one another, I think."

Hux had said this brother of his was smart. Techie's expression isn't _knowing_ as much as it is accepting, as though he simply understands the way Hux and Ren feel about each other and it's all perfectly fine. 

"Armitage is very good at--at everything. But I think he thinks highly of you too. It's not easy to do."

Ren sees the perfect image of Techie's mind like a cracked window, one that he can slip inside as silent as a breeze, without him even noticing. He helps himself to whatever it is that Techie's thinking about, and gets -- not images, exactly, or fully formed thoughts, just concept, emotions, building on top of each other like bricks thrown in a pile -- feelings towards Armitage of both utter adoration and mild fear that he will disappoint him, that everything his brother has worked for could be ruined by his carelessness, feelings towards Ren himself of anxious respect, of hope that he can possibly impress this legendary creature, or at very least, not incite any anger--the sensation of being overexposed, like a desert creature used to only coming out at night, suddenly dragged from its burrow into the glaring noontime sun--

There's a lot going on. Perhaps all of Hux's preparations weren't just Hux being neurotic.

"Allow me to show you to the canteen," Ren says stiffly, and Techie just nods, scurries to keep up.

* * *

"So I saw you walking around with _Kylo Ren_ ," says a voice from in front of Techie, and he nearly leaps out of his chair.

Ren doesn't really eat in the canteen -- Techie suspects he's a very private person, one who only presents exactly what he wants the others on the ship to see -- and he's conveniently ended his tour at lunchtime, so Techie can simply go eat and Ren can just slip back off to attend his own affairs. Before he'd left him, Ren had said, "You'll be all right, you know. Your brother won't let anything happen to you." Then he'd left him to his own devices. 

The voice that's talking to him now belongs to a technician -- Techie recognizes the uniform from the tour, though he can't place the person wearing it, he's already fatigued with seeing so many new faces. The guy just sits down across from him without asking or anything like that, as if they're already gossip buddies.

"Um? Yes--?"

The stranger measures him up, almost starry-eyed. "So you must be--somebody."

"I guess," Techie answers. What does this guy mean? Everybody is somebody. He supposes being the younger brother of General Hux means he's more than just _somebody_ , but the thought is too strange to dwell on. "I'm new," he offers, like that explains it all.

"New, like, a new officer?"

Techie laughs aloud at that. "I'm not even--ranking." Couldn't the stranger tell from his clothes what he did? But walking around the ship with Kylo Ren rates him higher than just any computer tech. "I'm just new, period. But my brother is General Hux, so...I suppose Kylo Ren felt compelled to show me what was what, since my brother's so busy."

"Well, see? You are somebody, I could tell right away." When the guy brushes some crumbs off his jumpsuit, Techie can see his nametag, which reads 'Matt'. "You look just like him, it's kind of insane. What did Kylo Ren say to you? What's he like?"

Techie feels himself go pink. "Oh, it wasn't-- well, it was all business, yeah? I don't even know if he really--felt more than compelled. He's, um. Himself. I don't know how else to describe him. Kind of scary."

"Amazing," Matt breathes, even though Techie can't believe this description is anything more than disappointing. "Will you tell me more, if he meets with you again?"

"If we eat together again, sure." Techie smiles.

"Oh, I always eat on this shift. I can't deal with schedules that flip-flop all the time. I need, like, structure. What's your name?" Matt's like a big canid, digging a series of determined holes all over the same yard, snuffling to find new treasures inside. A little scattered, a little too forceful. But likable. If he really were a canid, he'd be safe to pet. 

"Techie, you can call me."

"Techie is a _job_ , isn't it?"

"Well, that's how I got the nickname."

Matt finds that funny. "You really are somebody," he repeats, when he finishes laughing. "You better eat on this shift tomorrow, okay? I have a lot of questions, and we probably won't finish today."

"All right," Techie agrees, feeling sunny. "Ask away."

* * *

Relief has made an entirely new man out of Hux. The evening after Techie's tour and first shift, after Techie has checked in with Hux to confirm that he can find everything he needs and Ren didn't utterly terrorize him earlier in the day and he's even made a friend, if Hux can believe it, Hux is almost relaxed. When Ren wants to know if he can cash in that favor now, Hux doesn't have to be asked twice. He's actually _cuddly_ afterwards, if that can be believed, gleaming with sweat but wanting to curl up spoons-style with his back to Ren, held tight, instead of haughtily hurrying to the refresher.

"You're in a good mood," Ren says, needlessly.

"Mm. Don't think you need to be able to read minds to tell."

"I think you just need to be fucked more regularly."

"Doesn't the wait make it better?"

Ren scoffs. "That's a myth and we both know it. At least for insatiable creatures like us."

"Hm. Perhaps you're right." He turns so he's facing Ren, his face so pleased and youthful, instead of pinched with stress, he looks five years younger. "Your impatience makes me want to believe you rather like me."

"For your body, and maybe your mind."

"And here I thought it would be the other way around."

"Your attention most of all."

"I know you've been jealous of the attention I've been denying you," Hux whispers, sounding almost tipsy with satisfaction. "But as I said, I simply wanted to get him settled. You..." He presses a kiss to Ren's closest ear. "You I want to keep around awhile."

It more than makes up for a few days of impatience, of irritation. If Techie asked now, Ren thinks, the answer would be no, he does like Hux, very much, very much indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> A gift for one of my most lovely mutuals, [CalicoJinx](https://kelleyxmarie.tumblr.com/), who makes incredible dolls! I wanted to write a story to say thank you for mine, and so I hope this one satisfies the request for jealous Ren, smug Hux and Techienician. Thanks for being so patient, love!


End file.
